Wheel-hub.



J. J. LAASS.

WHEEL HUB.

, (Application filed June 12. 1899.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets$heet I.

No. 644,!39. V Patented Feb; 2 7, I900.

WITNESSESK INV NT R l i Jam @fm 24 ATToiQ EY n4: "cams FErEns o0. VHOTCLLITNO. WASNWGTQN,

' Patented Feb. 27, I900.

No. 644,I39.

J. J..LAASS.

WHEEL HUB.

(Application flledJune 12, 1899.)

2 sheets-sheet 2.

(No Model.)

S INSZENTOR ATTORNEY WITNESSES;

MM .2 71 9M,

Erica.

PATENT .iornv .i. LAASS, or sYRAoUsE, NEW YORK;

WHEEL-Hil s.

SPECIFICATION forming m of Letters mat No. 644,139, dated Febmayj 27,- 1906. Application filed il'une 12,1899. SeriaINo. 720,141. (No as.)

To. all whom it may concern:

,Be it known that I, JOHN J. LA'Ass, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Wheel-Hubs, of which the following, taken in connection with the. accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to an improvement in wheel-hubs for bicycles and analogous vehicles.

The chief object of the invention is to produce a wheel-hub which shallbe simple,strong, and durable in construction and at the same time inexpensive in its manufacture; and to that end the invention consists, first and essentially. of a wheel-hub comprising a metallic tube forming the body of the hub and having its end portions reduced circumferentially, thereby producing two annular shoulders, spoke-attaching collars embracing said end portions and abutting against said shoulders, and annular wedging retaining shouh ders formed on said end portions and pressing said collars firmly against the abutmentshoulders to rigidly lock the collars to said tube.

Secondly, the invention consists in the process of constructing the herein-described wheelhub, which is as follows: I provide a piece of tubing of thedesired dimensions and circumferentially reduce the end portions of the same, which reductions may be made either by cutting the tube on a lathe or by compressing the tube, and thereby two annular shoulders are produced. I then provide'two spokeattaching collars, preferably of the. form of struction, as hereinafter fully described, and set forth in the claims. V

In the annexed drawings, Figure l is a side View of a front wheel-hub embodying my in vention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of said hub. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of Y the tube before the spoke-attaching collars have been applied. Fig. 4 illustrates the means for expanding the end portions of the construction. Fig. 9 is an outer face view of one of the spoke-attaching collars employed in the latter construction. Fig. lOis atransverse section of said collar. Fig. 11 is a longitudinal section of a rear-wheel hub, illustrating my improved sprocket-wheel attachment. Fig. 12 is a vertical transverse section on line X X in Fig. 11. Fig. 13 is a detail face View of a portion of the sprocketwheel. Fig. 14 is a detail plan View of a portion of the rear hub minus the sprocketwheel, and Fig. 15 is a longitudinal section of a portion of a rear-wheel hub, illustrating a modification of the sprocket-wheel attachment.

. Referring to the drawings, A represents the metallic tube which is employed in my improved construction and constitutes the body of the hub. Said tube has its end portions reduced circumferentially, as indicated at a a, which reductions are made either by cutting the tube, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, or by compression of the tube, as shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings, and in either case producing two annular shoulders I? b.

B B denote the two spoke-attaching collars, which I prefer to make in the form of the wellknown washer. Saidcollars are placed on the aforesaid end portions of the tube and made to abut against the shoulders I) b and have their inner peripheral edges formed beveled, as indicated at c in Figs. 2, 4t, and 6 of the drawings.

The end portions a a of the tube A are expanded after placing the collars B B thereon,

preferably by suitably-shaped mandrels G C, inserted in said ends, thereby forming wedgin gretaining-shoulders 01 (Z, which press firmly against the beveled edges of the collars, and thereby rigidly lock the collars to the tube A. It will be seen that by forming both shoulders b b and d cl annular grooves c e are produced, in which the collars are seated, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawings. It will also be observed that by said operations annular ribs f f are formed within the tube A, upon which ribs the bearing-cups g g are seated, and are thereby prevented from shifting inward, as shown in Fig, 2.

In referring to Figs. 7, 8, 9, and 10 of the drawings, illustrating modifications of the hub, the tube A is of a uniform thickness throughout its length and has its end portions reduced circu mferentially by compression, as shown at a a, and thereby producing the hereinbefore-described shoulders I) b. In reducing the end portions of the tube A by the latter principle the abutment-shoulders b b are not as abrupt as in the preferred construction. Therefore I form the spoke-attaching collars in this case flaring at their inner peripheries, as indicated at h, to conform to the shape of the shoulders I) b and to form the bevel c, as clearly shown in Figs. 7 and 10.

In expanding the end portions of the tube A in the modified construction the mandrels are necessarily made of a slightly-different form (not necessary to be shown) and are inserted in the ends of the tube in manner hereinbefore stated.

Referring to Figs. 11, 12, 13, and 1; of the drawings, illustrating a rear-wheel hub constructed in the preferred form, D represents the sprocket-wheel, which is formed on its inner periphery with two lugs if. Said sprocketwheel is placed onto the end portion of the tube A, with its lugs entering or engaging two N longitudinal slots jj, cut in the end of the tube, and is thereby locked to the tube and prevented from turning thereon.

The extreme end portion of the tube A is screw-threaded externally, to which is applied a screw-threaded ring is, whichserves as a nut and bears against the sprocket-wheel to prevent the same from shifting outwardly.

In Fig. 15 I have illustrated a modification of the sprocket-wheel attachment, in which case the retaining-ring 7c is formed integral with the bearing-cup g. In this construction it will be seen that the screw-threads can be dispensed with, as the ring is held firmly against the sprocket-wheel by providing the bearing-cup with a tight fit to the tube A.

hat I claim is- 1. In a wheel-hub, the combination with a metallic tube constituting the body of the hub and provided on each end portion with an annular shoulder produced by circumferentially reducing said end portions, of spoke-attaching collars embracing said end portions and abutting against said shoulders, and wedging retaining-shoulders pressing the collars firmly against the abutment-shoulders and produced by expansion of said reduced end portions to their original diameters substantially as described.

2. In a wheel-hub, the combination with a metallic tube constituting the body of the hub and provided on each end portion with an annularshoulder produced by circumferentially reducing said end portions, of spoke-attaching collars having theirinnerperipheries flaring and embracing said end portions, and abutting against said shoulders, a bevel produced bysaid flaring of the collars, and wedging retaining-shoulders pressing against said bevel and produced by expansion of said end portions to their original diameters substantially as described.

3. In a wheel-hub, the combination with a metallic tube forming the body of the hub, and having its end portions reduced circumferentially and thereby producing annular shoulders thereon, of spoke-attaching collars embracing said end portions and abutting against said shoulders, wedging retainingshoulders formed on said end portions and pressing said collars firmly against the abutment-shoulders, annular ribs produced within the tube by the formation of the wedgingshoulders, and the bearing-cups inserted in the ends of the tube and seated on said ribs substantially as described.

4. In a wheel-hub, the combination with a metallic tube forming the body of the hub, and having its end portions reduced circumferentially thereby producing annular shoulders, of spoke-attaching collars embracing said end portions and having their inner peripheral edges formed beveled, wedging retaining-shoulders formed on the end portions of the tube and pressing against said beveled edges of the collars to grip the collars between the latter shoulders and abutmentshoulders to lock said collars to the tube, an-

nular ribs produced within the tube by the formation of the wedging-shoulders, and the bearing-cups inserted in the ends of the tube and seated on said ribs substantially as described.

5. The combination with a hub provided in one end portion with a series of longitudinal slots and screw-threaded externally on said end, of a sprocket-wheel embracing said end portion and provided on its inner periphery with a series of lugs engaging the aforesaid slots, and a screw-threaded retaining-ring applied to the screw-threaded portion of the hub and bearing against the sprocket-wheel sub stantially as described.

6. The combination with ahub provided in one end portion with a series of longitudinal slots, of asprocket-wheel embracing said end portion and provided on its inner periphery with a series of lugs engaging the aforesaid slots, the bearing-cup inserted in the end of the hub and having a retaining-ring formed integral therewith and bearing against the tegral with the cup, and bearing against the sprocket-wheel substantially as described. sprocket-Wheel substantially as described and lo 7. The combination with aWheel-hub, of 5 shown. sprocket-Wheel mounted non-revolubly thereon and adapted to be shifted longitudinally to apply it to and remove the same from the hub, a bearing-cup secured in the end of the hub, and a, retaining ring or nut formed in- JOHN J LAASS.

Witnesses:

H. B. SMITH, LUTHER L. WELLER. 

